Lancome Absolutely Rose Spring 2017 Collection

Spring is in the air!!  If there was ever a “spring” collection (read: pastels) that I was looking forward to, it was this Lancome Absolutely Rose Collection for Spring 2017!  But of course, you’ve all seen that gorgeous rose highlighter that has been instagrammed to death.  Alas, I was not fated to get hold of it despite my best attempts, and I consoled myself with the rest of the collection… which as it turned out, was truly beautiful individually!

Most of the pieces in this collection are adorned in pretty pinks and rose gold, a color scheme that is designed to appeal to every girl’s heart strings.  I always tend to reach for the eyeshadows first, so naturally, let’s start with the Lancome La Rose Palette!

By now you should be familiar with Lancome’s 6+3 palette, a nifty and efficient design that I’ve come to really appreciate.  The 6 eyeshadows in this La Rose Palette are arranged according to 2 sets of eyeshadow trios – pink/beige on the left, green/silver on the right.  And on the extreme right of the palette resides 2 cream colors for lips (and possibly cheeks if you are so inclined) and 1 lip balm/light gloss.  These are cleverly protected from dust and powder kick-up (not that I experienced any) by a metallic swing lid.  Even the dual-ended brush is of a good quality, and I actually found it useful at applying makeup.

As you can see, La Rose Palette is generally cool-toned and comprised of a good mix of light pastels and dark defining shades.  The corresponding swatches for the eyeshadows are as follows:

From left to right, the shades are:

• Pale beige with just a hint of peach, and a soft matte finish.  This shade blends right into my skin, and is best suited as a subtle brow-bone highlight.
• Medium cool-toned brown with violet and pale gold micro-shimmers
• Pale pink with a matte finish
• Pale mint green with a a frosty finish
• Medium silver with a slight translucency in the base
• Soft black with a touch of violet and pale golden micro-shimmers

The lip colors are mainly a creamy soft satin finish.  I swatched them above for your reference, but these shades wear very well, and would look lovely as a two-toned ombre.

There is an illustrated instruction on how to wear La Rose palette stuck on the mirror, but you don’t really have to pay close attention to it because the way the shades are designed, it’s really intuitive, and you can’t go wrong anyway!  Personally, I like to apply the lighter shade all over my lid, and create some dimension by blending the darkest shade on the outer corner and into the crease.  Thereafter, I try to pat some shimmering shade on the middle and inner corner for a bit of pop.  A dark liner and loads of mascara always helps to enlarge my small Asian eyes.

In case you are not feeling like splurging on an entire palette, there are a number of Lancôme Ombre Hypnose Stylo that you can choose from to supplement your existing makeup wardrobe.  I always like eyeshadows in the form of pens, and these are no exception.  They’re creamy and smooth, and surprisingly long-lasting (waterproof even!).

There are 4 new shades to choose from, and the one I have here is No.23 Rose Pastel, which is a soft lilac.  The pointed tip allows this stylo to be used as a liner, and even reach the inner corner as a highlighter.  It twists up and down, so you don’t have to worry about sharpening.

If brightening and opening up those sleepy eyes are a priority, consider picking up the Lancôme La Crayon Miracle in a new pearlescent white shade.  This is creamy and smooth, but goes on and stays on!  Great for the waterline as well!

Lancôme keeps shaking things up with new lip offerings, and this season we have these gorgeously sleek Lancôme Parisian Lips Le Stylo.

The design of these is absolutely stunning imho, the metallic rose gold with the respective color shades denoted in an easy to tell band around each end is brilliant.  These are dual-ended lip colors, with 1 side featuring a sheer cream color, and the other side containing a powdered lip pigment.  Although designed to create ombre lips, I found the colors on both ends to match up so the effect is not as distinct when worn.  Layering both together throughout creates an opaque and long-lasting matte lip.

I have 3 out of the 4 available shades to show you, and they are:

1. Bonjour Bonheur – medium pink that has a perfect balance of red and blue
2. Rose Mon Amour – deep raspberry
3. Je M’Appelle Rose – light-medium cool-toned pink with lots of blue base

In this makeup look, I am wearing Parisian Lips Le Stylo No.1 Bonjour Bonheur on my lips.  I do have to caution to remember which cap belongs to which end of the stylo, because the powder pigment end contains the pigments inside the cap, whereas the cream lip color does not fully retract into the tube.  I thoughtlessly smushed a pigment cap onto the tip of the cream lip color, and essentially ruined the entire stylo.

Also featuring the green part of La Rose Palette on my eyes.  Here is a closeup:

I’m not usually a fan of pastel makeup, but this season’s Absolute Rose Collection shows up well on my skin, and they all perform beautifully.  Lip pigments are all the rage this season, and if you are looking to pick up some, definitely check out the Parisian Lips Le Stylo because their creamy lip color end make them more versatile than outright pigments.

_{This post featured products that were generously provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.}